the. he would draw of a thirty thousand troops from afghanistan is one of the main pledges in barack obama's state of the union address but examines the foreign policy areas he wasn't keen to talk about. silence is broken the israeli media and if the shroud of secrecy of the death of an alleged secret agent in custody is part the government trying to keep it quiet. i've been unemployed frenchmen sets himself on fire in front of the job center as the country's a number of job lists approaches a record high.

life from a new center here in moscow this is already with the online on screen twenty four hours a day. barack obama used the first state of the union address of his second term to try and appease lawmakers and taxpayers making fresh promises to boost the economy and slash debt on foreign policy the us president also announced thirty four thousand troops will leave afghanistan by next february and he said no he looks at what he did and didn't say. after over a decade of war troops are coming home in twenty fourteen as obama put it obama points out that there are two missions now one to prepare handing afghan forces take over so that the country does not slip into chaos again the key word here again it almost seems as if it's now a stable place just today reports of ten civilians killed by

a nato strike targeting taliban insurgents now obama spent most of his speech talking about the economy and taxes he failed to mention that so far the u.s. has invested over one hundred billion dollars in reconstruction of afghanistan and that this year alone it's expected another thirty billion dollars could be spent in eight this as the afghan state is rated one of the most corrupt in the world despite red flags from a watchdog monitory bad aid they say there's no way of ensuring all this money is going to the right place or whose hands the cash is falling into and that it's too dangerous in many places in afghanistan to safely observe what's happening where former and. some have become very rich including western officials well most afghans have been left with nothing many countries thrive on this war they make money there in their un people are others who are lined up and making fat salaries

and while the life of afghan ordinary afghans have not changed we of course we have had some things like media. communication and this and that but. to in relation to what was available and what could have been done it's drop in the bucket now obama also spoke of defending democracy across the globe most notably the arab spring which is previously been held by his administration a great success especially libya egypt and tunisia those countries of course now still drowning in chaos and violence two years on well. bamma has changed his tune a bit now saying well it's going to be messy those transitions also his tone on syria a bit distant considering a year ago the us was insisting president off to moscow a lot of speculation about intervention was going on now the president saying they will continue to put pressure on the syrian leader another pledge from obama to

continue to push for legal and durable policy on counterterrorism no mention here of guantanamo drones or wiretapping and obama mentioned internet freedoms well sort of he flaunted signing an executive order on cyber defense but the order is really seen as a response to congress's refusal to pass the cyber intelligence sharing and protection act or says last year in light of serious privacy concerns in other words a loophole is now available for cispa to effectively be put into action president obama has cited growing threats from cyber attacks but he will add to his usual says it's not clear whether the new measures would be used to protect the public or to pry into what their own too. when we look at what's going on here with the information sharing between the department of defense the government and others private corporations i think it raises significant concerns over whether the issue of defense is actually defending us or weakening us i mean we see recently the

three largest papers in the united states washington post new york times wall street journal all had major scandals over the issue of cyber security now if they're sharing information with the government i think that raises a potential question well what about journalist e-mails and things of that nature will that have a chilling effect on whistleblowers in the government and so i think we have to ask ourselves is generalize obviously generalized cybersecurity defense is important but ultimately is the way the obama administration is approaching it expanding department of defense type programs and not having safeguards that are very well explained to the people regarding civil liberties in place is that something that actually decreases our security by for example having a chilling effect on whistleblowers or just giving the government more of a big brother overview and really reducing our privacy the man who was on the workers died off to setting himself on fire in front of a job center in the french city of new and the forty three year old self him an eighteen after finding out he was in a legible for unemployment benefit the last time this happened in france was last

august when a man died off to burning himself in paris well he has the details. it said it reports that he had actually set a letter to some journalists saying that he was going to do this this week so the police had said that they had set of surveillance outside that employment agency but they didn't manage to see him he was already on fire they said he had entered through a side street and therefore this tragedy had happened now the man did this after finding out that he he is no longer eligible for those unemployment benefits and this is not the first time it has happened in france in august we know that a fifty year old jobless man had done the same and this is a worrying sign for france for a country that has seen its unemployment rising for the past twenty months and this after a president had been elected on a campaign of jobs and growth so we haven't seen any improvements on this monster a lot has declared twenty thirteen as a battle for jobs he said that by the end of the year there would be he would be creating jobs for the french people however statistics show that by midyear the

number is set to rise and let's not forget that more than three million french people this number does not include people who have quit the unemployment program because they simply have exhausted all their benefits similar to the case of the man who had just burned him self and also those young people who had never registered or those who were in part time jobs if we look at the trend we've seen a lot of suicides and attempted suicides in countries like greece one of the hardest hit euro zone countries because of this eurozone crisis there's a general feeling of a still in the country a lot of people going out in protest we've also heard of stories of suicides in italy another hard hit country so if we're looking at the trend that's happening in europe we hope it does not continue but we could see a lot more of expressions of dissatisfaction. still to come the european leaders may think tax hikes will help to tackle the debt crisis but europe's wealthy are being lured away by low tax countries with small business left at home struggling

to stay afloat a report on that is just ahead. but first a veil of silence over the death of a top secret prisoner has been lifted by the israeli media which had been gagged by a court order it surfaced follow a report in the australian press about a man linked to the israeli secret service who hanged himself in prison after months of being held in secret but he has the details. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu summoned the editors of all the major israeli news outlets to an emergency meeting and in that meeting he asked them not to publish the story saying and i'm quoting that it would be embarrassing to a certain government agency not at first the editors did listen and all references to the original australian report were removed from israeli news websites but later it was for back not only to the web sites but also to all the radio and t.v. stations here and certainly sincerely also this morning it has been the headline news everyone though is referencing it as

a report from australia not what we understand is that israeli parliament terence did oss the justice minister to confirm whether or not this report was true they also demanded to know if they were other prisoners who were being held in secret in israeli jails the justice minister's comments were and i'm quoting that there is no doubt that if this information is accurate this is something that needs to be checked state senses gave news outlets in israel the green light to report on this parliamentary debate but nothing else but of course we're witnessing now that the reporting has gone much further than just this debate such a gag order it is important to say is highly unusual in israel ways states military censors me and now all the local media to quote fall in saucers on controversial topics such as the alleged israeli strike in syria last month what we also understand is that various human rights groups such as human rights watch as well as the israeli civil rights movement has been aware of this particular incident for

quite some time now the australian media is reporting that this man came to live in israel when he was a youngster he made what is called i.d.e.o. and he was recruiting on the stand by the messiah these raided secret service something went wrong and we've been given no reason for him being imprisoned but they respect the nation that it would have had to be connected somehow with espionage and sensitive state secrets the. former foreign minister avigdor lieberman has said that left wing parliamentarians have damaged israeli security by bringing this issue to the fore in the first place. plenty of questions remain after that israel spy secret was revealed economist and senior correspondent for israel's how it's newspaper amir oren i spoke to middle early and he told me that the entire situation is a source of embarrassment for the country on one level it's an espionage story and mystery regarding the foreign intelligence service mossad and the tragic.

circumstances under which one of its operatives apparently found his death on another level. government versus press story and the press here has been struggling against various government agencies and gradually has been able to leave at least some of the secrecy surrounding this story there was a gag order here apparently and defer this was the case and one cannot confirm it independently from israel but again embarrassing as it is one has to rely on foreign sources if that is true and a gag order was signed by a judge then one would have been subject to prosecution if one were to violate it so apparently even though these really press is far from being lazy

for the last two years it has waited passively for someone abroad in this case australia to break the story. still to come in the program grim predictions for the u.k. a growing gap between rich and poor and sinking living standards that's what experts predict for much of the british population report on facts in a few minutes. also examine the volunteer that's plaguing money off to the un human rights chief says the situation in the country is swiftly tyria following the french intervention that is coming up after this break as well as on the story stay with us. because we can with the influential. choose the consensus you. choose to get to.

choose to stories could impact your life choose the access to. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you. are welcome to the big picture.

here in moscow the news continues now there's been a dramatic growth in the gap between the rich and the poor in the u.k. the stall figures revealed by a british think tank also warn that families but since you have fifteen years of squeezed incomes until living standards recover to pre crisis levels all these pretty boy cuts into what's behind the numbers. imagine living on the brink financially need to be told that it's going to get was that's the reality facing some ten million brits living on middle incomes economists at the think tank the resolution foundation have issued a landmark report with a stark warning to the government they've got to tackle low wages or face economic stagnation for generations to come the report claims that for too many households their money no longer stretches to the bare essentials because of falling wages and rising inflation and buying a house is becoming

a fantasy for too many britons already millions of citizens in the u.k. struggle to pay their monthly bills have no savings in the bank and can no longer afford a family holiday so what we're seeing at the moment is the squeeze on living standards which is affecting households throughout the entire income distribution and that's mainly a result of the recession and austerity policies but actually for a very sizable group around about ten million adults who live in low to middle income households actually started some time before failing to do anything in this area and it was time you know households have no increase in that in their living standards in their readings first of all social problems because it's a very large group to be in that situation but also it's an economic problem because because this group. one of the drivers of economic growth their report found that on top of the recession there are systemic problems with the way that the british economy is run making life even harder for britain's low to middle if

things stay the same the average household by twenty twenty will have less money to spend than it did five years ago person is now so squeezed that almost seven out of ten brits say that they have to cut back on spending just in order to get by but the governor of the bank of england saying that economic recovery could be in sight it looks like that for those at the bottom of the british economy that's no guarantee that life is going to get any easier. tax hikes are still the default plan for nations trying to get out of debt while the super rich can flee to places that won't take such a fifty slice of a cash small business is left behind say livelihoods are at risk and that is peace all of a found out he's a leading man of stage and screen however european heads of state will be hoping share our debt by do doesn't become the leader of a tax exodus by the super rich fund to our lands decision to push through

a seventy five percent top rate of tax on those earning over one million euros saw the actor up sticks and head to russia europe has some of the highest rates of taxation in the world with many giving the lion's share of the things to the state of vermont feel that it can be a balancing act of course you want to run a successful business but if you make over a certain amount you find yourself paying out huge quantities of tax over fifty percent. there are warnings for europe that when compared to low tax countries like russia they could lose their competitive edge if their country with low taxes and with high taxes capital flow went to countries with low tax and the same is true for people with talent there's always going to be people that think the taxes are too high but a growing number actually starting to think that it's becoming detrimental to the development of business but he can't owns

a haulage company in munich currently he employs around ninety people transporting everything from the small to the big and bulky all over mainland europe he says that lowering the current rate of tax would not just make big changes to his business but also to the lives of his staff that's where not only can it was our current it would be super first i could pay higher salaries this is a very important issue right now due to the rise in the cost of living also i can invest more into the company and grow the business even employ more people everyone benefits something that is impossible under the current tax system and that those in power argue that the problem in european countries right now is that taxpayers want to have the best of both worlds big management of the phenomenon we face regarding taxes is that everyone wants to pay as little as possible however no one is willing to give up the services that those taxes go to pay for them with few

signs of any major tax cuts on the horizon in year businesses like this one going to have to continue to struggle to bring home the bacon but it comes to saving fifty development peter all of a r.t. . just remind you we have more stories and videos for you on our website at aunty don't comments online all the time and here's a look at what we've got there for you at the moment just a couple of many stories there also taking a battering from mother nature residents in parts of new york which were him haunted by hurricane sandy are in for an unfortunate surprise from the city's texas authorities. also that the moment the iraqi capital baghdad takes its first steps on the catwalk in ten years the fashion show is seen as a symbolic break from years of turmoil since the u.s. invasion more on that story and kind of on the beaches at all tito called.

the united nations says the french military intervention in mali has made the situation in the country worse with fears that the west african nation will fall into a downward spiral of violence human rights groups are concerned about ethnic reprisal killings and accused mali and forces of murdering suspected militants gonzalo one sure who's been traveling around the country throughout the conflict reports for r.t. it's about him money yes because if you've got a. united nations already describes the situation in mali is a disaster the u.n. human rights commission says the country's caught in a spiral of violence fraught with grievous consequences the situation has been made

worse in the wake of ferocious fighting in and around the city of northern mali following four days of fierce resistance from insurgents complete with suicide attacks the french military has been forced to conclude that some of the locals made an extremist. however some of the key areas in this conflict are still off limits to international journalists with the french army denying a spastic saying it was for our own security the u.n. high commissioner for human rights not the palais made it plain in a recent statement that the situation in mali is only deteriorated following the foreign military intervention you know that the insurgency in mali is aggravated by ethnic clashes. camera crew witnessed instances of exit brutality perpetrated by the mali an army and survive. the military are not the only ones and gauged in hunting down people of arable quarry origin are believed to be part of the insurgency. the locals are going after them as well and for some time it has been

difficult to find people from either of those ethnic groups anywhere in mali and this brings us back to the fact that more than three hundred thirty thousand people have been forced to flee from their homes because of the crisis the last straw for all those refugees and indeed for all of mali as been a statement by al qaida coming out of the arabian peninsula which calls upon every muslim to join the holy war against france a war that is being fought in mali against the will of its people. are. reports say cattle handed the syrian embassy to the opposition the building has been closed for about a year after the gulf nation ceased to recognize the sounds ruling regime one of syria's opposition leaders claims he's been appointed ambassador to the syrian political activist. told me that i was trying to beef up the failing syrian national coalition. it's not an addition to the political weight of the syrian

national coalition in my view this is a this is primarily a crime primarily to reinject some life and so the syrian national coalition especially after the several blows that received there. was formed we know that they want to. overthrow the regime they couldn't so far they want to achieve some liberated lands and more than in northern syria and they didn't so far and they also want to form a transitional government on syrian soil and they're meeting in us istanbul recently failed in doing so so i think i think this movement by by qatar especially the us qatar considers itself the main backer of this iranian national mission because it's it was it's own project so it's it's science or mask and we inject some light into it after after the deficiencies that are in ukraine

a passenger plane carrying about forty people has crash landed near the city of in yet it's believed that the aircraft which was on an internal flight missed the runway and overturned before bursting into flames the full scale of casualties isn't yet clear but only indications suggest at least five people are being killed with two still missing the cause of the crash landing is under investigation we'll bring you more details as we get them. in other international headlines nineteen insurgents were killed in thailand after the north to predawn assault on a military base in the country south. over one hundred heavily armed fighters stormed the marine camp on the malaysian border state troops repelled the attack suffering no injuries themselves the raid is the heaviest militant attack for several years in the rest of region. in bahrain police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the country's capital one day before the two year anniversary of the uprising people marched in the streets

carrying bahraini flags and chanting anti-government slogans accusing the ruling regime of corruption and human rights violations arenas have been staging demonstrations since early two thousand and eleven the modern political reform they now want the removal of the ruling. family blaming them for the violent crackdown on protests. religious education is making a major comeback in tunisia two years after the regime which banned the teaching of islam was toppled the current government has no control of private muslim schools springing up across the country and the worry is they're spreading extremism what is an igloo visitors a school where the qur'an is the main subject. tunisia's learned some tough lessons in the wake of its revolt but now the report card for what's going on in its schools is facing examination in the school in one of the poorest districts of the tunisian capital children come to learn about the qur'an and the way of life of

true muslims religious education was banned under the old regime but it's making a comeback in a big way the rise of islam islam has led to an increase in the number of religious schools are springing up across the country these schools are private operating outside of the control of state officials who have no say over what's being taught in these schools and some worry that this may lead to a rise in the number of young extremists even many religious experts agree filling your minds with religious doctrines may not be the best way to bring up children. that i read in one of the papers sent by a three year old girl to her mother with a message my beloved mom teach me about the afterlife the same way you teach about this life is this a way to teach three year old children we can see it clearly attempts to brainwash these children dr from loony carried out an extensive research of religious schools and to nice to find out whether critics were right to say that they were damaging

to the country's post revolutionary development she found most schools were primarily focused on teaching strict islamic values without worrying about the effect these methods may have on youngsters. i have noticed that all female teachers at these schools where any cub while teaching you can see her face this is in contradiction with what's known in psychology as communication how can she communicate with the kids of her face is covered in motions and movement of vital to kids and social interaction such things do not contradict our values and morals . but parents who send their children to study these schools believe they are on the right track. educating your. children with muslim values is a way to ensure that they will lead a proper life from childhood study in the koran improves memory increases thinking abilities and says the right course for the rest of their lives. at the moment not

even the ministry of education is able to say exactly how many religious schools there are in tunisia after the revolution they sprung up over the country many operating without license from the state the government has acknowledged the problem but has its hands full trying to keep the economy together meaning education is on the backburner it's this absence of control that especially worrisome on top of the concerns about extremist salafist groups gaining ground. these groups don't believe in democracy republic and freedom they consider them to be against their religion they want to impose their way of life onto new zealand by force as if they know better than other people. after the arab spring revolt tunisians were eager to embrace what they hoped would be a new way of life but with radical islam permeating more and more spheres of everyday life these children's future i mean not be exactly what many parents had hoped for in their quest for freedom and democracy in tunisia. r.t.e.

. so that brings up today with a month i'll be back with the news team with wolf in just over half an hour from now let me talk business next with katie and kate if you were to be talking about illegal capital outflow from russia from russia exactly why in the last eighteen years we've had it i have a two hundred billion dollars and that's really something president vladimir putin has said that he wants to tackle in order to get russia more invested friendless i'll be looking into that and plenty more markets rundown of course all coming up off of the right bill thanks a lot casey.